Reading the thread on oil changes had me laughing and cringing at some of the stories. I thought it might be fun to have a thread on the worst of the worst. I'll start with some of mine:
- I used to rebuild classic Mustangs (67-68). I had a hard top that I had just finished doing the body work on; I had installed a new trunk lid, had my body shop weld on a new taillight panel, I put a brand new bumper on it, taillight lenses, brand new gas tank, the works. It was all primered and about to go in to paint. The C4 automatic transmission was starting to slip and I had about a week wait on the body shop so I called the transmission shop to see if they had time to do a rebuild. They said they could get it done in a couple of days, so I had plenty of time. So I dropped it off on Monday. Wednesday morning I called them (this was before cell phones) and they said they were putting it back in the car that morning and it should be ready that afternoon. So when I got off of work I called to see if it was ready to pick up before I got schlepped all the way over there. Guy says "Well, we have a little problem, you probably need to come by here". When I got to the shop, my Mustang is smashed against another car in the parking lot on the rear end. Turns out the mechanic had it running, had it in gear with no wheel chocks and no parking brake, and was filling it with transmission fluid. Well, once it got enough fluid to drive, guess what? It did, and it was in reverse, and it drove off in reverse and smashed into the other car. Completely demolished all of the new work that had been done in the rear - cracked the gas tank, destroyed the rear panel & trunk lid, etc. They paid for the repair work but it delayed me getting it painted and sold by 3 or 4 months.
- When I was in the Navy my old GMC truck (automatic) blew third gear, but still drove (I've never had a good understanding of the guts of automatics) in 1-2-4. I drove around like that for about a year and then one day a guy on my ship said "Oh, I rebuild transmissions all the time back at home". So we rent a spot at the hobby shop and I buy the rebuild kit. Guy says it will take him a week, tops. 3 weeks later I still have no truck because the guy is jerking around getting it done and I'm getting tired of bumming rides from my apartment, and paying daily for the bay at the hobby shop. He finally says it's done (we were in drycock at the time) so I go down there to get it with the keys. Get in and the only gear that works is reverse! So we push it back into the bay and I (more or less) threaten him with an ***-kicking if he doesn't get my truck fixed. In the meantime he gives me his car to drive, an old beater Monte Carlo. He spends another month screwing around with my truck and says it's done. I go down there and this time I've got reverse and first, but nothing else. So I drive it all the way back to my apartment in Norfolk in 1st gear, taking all back roads, then call a wrecker when I get home and get it towed to the transmission place. When the transmission guys open it up there's broken pieces of stuff everywhere! I had already paid this guy so I go down to the boiler room and tell him it's my money or his ***, and I get a refund. Between the money I spent on the hobby shop, the rebuild kit, and then the real rebuild, it ends up being about 2 grand - almost what the truck is worth!
I've got others that I'll add but let's hear some of yours!
- I used to rebuild classic Mustangs (67-68). I had a hard top that I had just finished doing the body work on; I had installed a new trunk lid, had my body shop weld on a new taillight panel, I put a brand new bumper on it, taillight lenses, brand new gas tank, the works. It was all primered and about to go in to paint. The C4 automatic transmission was starting to slip and I had about a week wait on the body shop so I called the transmission shop to see if they had time to do a rebuild. They said they could get it done in a couple of days, so I had plenty of time. So I dropped it off on Monday. Wednesday morning I called them (this was before cell phones) and they said they were putting it back in the car that morning and it should be ready that afternoon. So when I got off of work I called to see if it was ready to pick up before I got schlepped all the way over there. Guy says "Well, we have a little problem, you probably need to come by here". When I got to the shop, my Mustang is smashed against another car in the parking lot on the rear end. Turns out the mechanic had it running, had it in gear with no wheel chocks and no parking brake, and was filling it with transmission fluid. Well, once it got enough fluid to drive, guess what? It did, and it was in reverse, and it drove off in reverse and smashed into the other car. Completely demolished all of the new work that had been done in the rear - cracked the gas tank, destroyed the rear panel & trunk lid, etc. They paid for the repair work but it delayed me getting it painted and sold by 3 or 4 months.
- When I was in the Navy my old GMC truck (automatic) blew third gear, but still drove (I've never had a good understanding of the guts of automatics) in 1-2-4. I drove around like that for about a year and then one day a guy on my ship said "Oh, I rebuild transmissions all the time back at home". So we rent a spot at the hobby shop and I buy the rebuild kit. Guy says it will take him a week, tops. 3 weeks later I still have no truck because the guy is jerking around getting it done and I'm getting tired of bumming rides from my apartment, and paying daily for the bay at the hobby shop. He finally says it's done (we were in drycock at the time) so I go down there to get it with the keys. Get in and the only gear that works is reverse! So we push it back into the bay and I (more or less) threaten him with an ***-kicking if he doesn't get my truck fixed. In the meantime he gives me his car to drive, an old beater Monte Carlo. He spends another month screwing around with my truck and says it's done. I go down there and this time I've got reverse and first, but nothing else. So I drive it all the way back to my apartment in Norfolk in 1st gear, taking all back roads, then call a wrecker when I get home and get it towed to the transmission place. When the transmission guys open it up there's broken pieces of stuff everywhere! I had already paid this guy so I go down to the boiler room and tell him it's my money or his ***, and I get a refund. Between the money I spent on the hobby shop, the rebuild kit, and then the real rebuild, it ends up being about 2 grand - almost what the truck is worth!
I've got others that I'll add but let's hear some of yours!